A bookmaker's tip-off that a couple of astute punters had placed $40 bets on Melbourne to take out the NRL wooden spoon ultimately ignited the biggest story in rugby league history.

Early on Thursday morning, leading bookmaker Sportingbet shut down its wooden spoon market after fielding several bets at 250-1, with three punters standing to win $10,000 each.

"We took three bets to win $10,000 and another to win $8000 for the Storm to win the wooden spoon all within 10 minutes of each other this morning," said Sportingbet Australia spokesman Bill Richmond.

"You don't take a series of bets like that unless someone knows something."

SportsAlive and sportsbet.com.au followed suit shortly after while TAB Sportsbet left its market open, but wound the Storm into 20-1 for the spoon after taking a bet with a potential collect of $40,000.

TABSportsbet spokesman Glenn Munsie said he didn't think much of the initial bet on until further bets followed.

"The spark starts, becomes a brushfire, becomes a bushfire," Munsie said.

"It all started in a couple of places this morning and they're now coming from everywhere."

By midday speculation was rife that the Storm, then title favourites, could be in danger of losing competition points for a salary cap breach.

Then the bomb dropped - the Storm would be stripped of all competition points as well as any points accrued during the rest of the 2010 season.

Melbourne Storm were guaranteed the wooden spoon.

Bookmakers were sent into a frenzy re-framing NRL premiership betting markets and are set to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in refunds and pay-outs.

Sportingbet Australia reacted by slashing Melbourne's wooden spoon odds from $250 to $1.01 which they claimed is the biggest betting move in history.

Both they and Centrebet will refund all bets placed on Melbourne to win the premiership while TABSportsbet will honour all bets placed on the Storm finishing last.

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